APPLE has been hit by a double-whammy of leaked information as online gossip continues to circulate about their new device.

Sources claim the release date for the new iPhone 5S will be September 18, and say it will be launched alongside a plastic low-cost model called the iPhone 5C.

Plastic … images from an earlier leak

And China Labor Watch – a workers’ rights group based in New York – accidentally confirmed the existence of the ‘budget iPhone’ in an article about poor working conditions in the Taiwanese factory that makes them.

Budget … iPhone 5C

Other sources – which have also leaked pictures of the 5C’s packaging – say the handset will simply be an iPhone 5 with a different shell, and will cost £227 ($349).

iPhone 5S … from previous source

Apple gossip has been flooding the web in recent weeks, because the handsets have now gone into production – meaning more potential leakers have access to them.

But so far Apple hasn’t responded to any speculation, instead preferring to stick to its tradition of revealing all at a glitzy launch event.